Even flames couldn’t destroy Joan of Arc. The 15th-century teenage revolutionary was infamously burned at the stake for leading a revolution, but her memory survived . She eventually became a saint and even a symbol of France itself.

Centuries later, Danish film director Carl Dreyer, a titan of silent cinema, made a magnificent 1928 movie called “The Passion of Joan of Arc.” But shortly after receiving rapturous acclaim, the film also fell victim to flame — all known copies were destroyed in a warehouse fire.

Dreyer assembled a second version from outtake negatives. Again, it burned in a second warehouse fire. Devastated, Dreyer gave up on Joan, but went on to make a series of film classics.

In 1981, workers cleaning out a hospital storeroom in Norway found tape reels that turned out to hold a pristine copy of Dreyer’s original “The Passion of Joan Arc.” Its re-release won acclaim all over again for its stark, striking depiction of Joan’s ordeal.

A friend of New York composer Richard Einhorn told him to check out the film. He was so enraptured that he created a musical response. Einhorn’s oratorio “Voices of Light” earned its own accolades and a classical chart-topping 1995 Sony recording.

On Friday, Portland Youth Philharmonic’s Camerata PYP ensemble, the In Mulieribus vocal ensemble, three Portland State University choirs and some of the city’s finest classical singers will perform the oratorio during the Northwest Film Center’s screening of Dreyer’s film.

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A scene from Carl Dreyer's silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc."

Like Dreyer, Einhorn was drawn to Joan’s story of courage, sacrifice and conscience. “When you read her story and trial transcript, you get the sense of somebody who doesn’t fit into any notion of a medieval figure or a teenager,” he says. “She’s someone you’d like to know right now.”

Just as Dreyer reflected that sense of timelessness by making Joan sometimes appear to float, Einhorn created “a musical language that could not be pinned down, a sense of floating outside of time,” drawing on both contemporary minimalism and modern harmony, as well his favorite musical influences, especially medieval composers such as Perotin and Josquin from near Joan’s era.

“That music connects with us because it’s emotionally very direct, intense, rhythmically driving,” Einhorn explains. It manages to sound both medieval and modern, appealing even to listeners unfamiliar with classical or early music.

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The silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" will be screened in Portland Jan. 26 in conjunction with Richard Einhorn's oratorio "Voices of Light." (Courtesy of Portland Youth Philharmonic)

Einhorn, who did extensive research on Joan’s life including visiting historical sites in France, chose texts from another medieval composer, the abbess Hildegard of Bingen, and other female mystics, as well as Joan’s own words from her trial.

Since the oratorio’s 1994 premiere, it has been performed, usually with the film, more than 250 times. One of Einhorn’s favorite performances was led in 2006 by David Hattner, a young clarinetist just then making the transition to becoming a conductor. He’d never led an ensemble larger than a dozen or so players, it was his first big New York performance, and there were so many moving parts — chorus, vocal soloists, orchestra, film. Yet Hattner’s “calmly authoritative” reading drew praise from The New York Times’ classical music critic.

Hattner has been hoping to bring “Voices of Light” to Portland since he became music director of Portland Youth Philharmonic in 2008. Support from various funders and partners including Northwest Film Center at last made it possible.

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A scene from Carl Dreyer's silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc."

Einhorn believes the Portland performance will be the first by a youth orchestra. Although the relatively simple score presents few technical hurdles for the players in Camerata PYP, such a complex production provides a learning opportunity even for a group that has splendidly performed some of classical music’s toughest compositions. They play almost continuously for 80-plus minutes and can’t succumb to the temptation to glance at the onscreen action. “We’ve been working on it since September,” Hattner says, “and they sound terrific.”

Hattner also notes that this performance will be the first to use a new digital restoration of Dreyer’s classic. “It looks incredible,” he says.

There’s nothing like experiencing the full majesty of Dreyer’s film and Einhorn’s music on a colossal screen — and sharing the experience live, Hattner says.

“It has the capacity to really hold people entirely rapt, at attention for the 84-minute length,” he says. “When I was conducting it with 1,200 people behind me, I could just feel that intensity behind me that entire time. I noticed that even though we were performing in the middle of winter in New York, it took 20 minutes before somebody finally coughed. No one was making a sound. Even their diseases took a break. It’s that powerful.”